ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION [ gl prnnsen]

Facolt di Lettere e Filosofia Corsi di Laurea in Filosofia, Lettere, Storia A.A. 2010-2011 Frederika GEBHARDT

INDEX

UNIT 1 PHONETIC SYMBOLS AND SOUNDS

p.3

IPA symbols vowels, dipthongs, consonants

UNIT 2 ENGLISH SPELLING AND SOUNDS

p.9

Difficult vowel and consonant combinations -s and ed suffix pronunciation Homographs, homophones, silent letters

UNIT 3

STRESS PATTERNS IN WORDS

p.16

Syllable division, primary stress patterns in prefix and suffix endings of nouns, verbs, adjectives, compound nouns and adjectives

UNIT 4 STRESS PATTERNS IN PHRASES

p.22

Weak stress in function words, auxiliary and modal auxiliary verbs

UNIT 5

ENGLISH WORDS USED IN ITALIAN

p.26

Pronunciation of words commonly used in Italian English words translated into Italian, false anglicisms

ANSWER KEY TO EXERCISES

p.28

INTRODUCTION The text follows the contents of G. Ludbrook: English Pronunciation. CD (Edizioni Erickson) Unlike Italian, English is not a phonetic language which is the principle reason why it is difficult to write and pronounce English words. Although there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, the sounds that may be produced are almost double that number. This text is a short introduction to the phonetic transcription of English phonemes (vowel and consonant sounds) to increase the Italian students understanding of English pronunciation, improve speech and reading, and help students consult a dictionary. The phonemic transcriptions in dictionaries are based on the standard English accent known as Received Pronunciation (RP for short) and other regional and international English accents will not be considered here. The text will focus particularly on sounds that are difficult to pronounce for Italian students and those that may be easily confused.

Another common problem is the stress placed on the pronunciation of words and phrases, as English is stress-timed, unlike Italian which is syllable-timed. Attention is paid to strong and weak stress in words and phrases, taking into consideration function words, contracted forms, compound nouns and adjectives, prefixes and suffixes. The problem of English spelling is explored through a brief study of homophones, homographs and silent letters.

In conclusion, there is a brief section on English words used in Italian that are often mispronounced, and false anglicisms (words used by Italians that do not exist in English).

Frederika Gebhardt

UNIT 1 PHONETIC SYMBOLS AND SOUNDS International phonetic alphabet symbols Vowels // /e/ // // // // Dipthongs /e/ // // // Consonants /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ /f/ /v/ // // /s/ /z/ // play, stop, speak, power bad, baby, big, object ten, later, little, pot day, advice, bed character, quick, taxi got, exam, ignore, finger food, laugh, telephone vain, over, Stephen thin, earth, method, both they, father, breathe, with small, since, scene, psalm zoo, goes, xenophobe shell, nation, machine // /h/ /m/ /n/ // /t/ /d/ /l/ /r/ /j/ /w/ genre, measure, vision hot, hair, whole, whose moon, lamp, lamb can, snow, pneumonia string, singer, tongue chair, match, future just, general, age, soldier look, small, bottle, isle real, train, wrong, write yes, Europe, university window, twin, quick, why take, pay, wait, ballet five, sigh, height, buy noise, boy, lawyer no, road, sew, broken // // /e/ // round, renown, doubt here, deer, dear, fierce care, air, mayor, prayer poor, insure, tour, moor pin, English, business bed, head, bury, exit cat, bag, apple, black the, a, woman, banana look, put, could, cushion clock, what, because // // // // // /u/ cut, come, mother girl, burn, word, heard car, art, heart, half or, board, door, small sea, bee, people, receive too, blue, fruit, fool

Exercise 1 Match the phonetic transcriptions with the words. 1. /t/ 2. /ht/ 3. /k/ 4. /wk/ 5. /let/ 6. /bt/ 7. /pul/ 8. /dt/ 9. /dk/ 10. /e/ a. later b. joke c. heart d. there e. doubt f. work g. shut h. think i. pool j. bought

Exercise 2 Listen to the following words and circle the sound that you hear. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. // // // // // // /e/ // // // 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. /e/ // // // // // /u/ /e/ // //

Exercise 3 Complete the transcriptions with one of the following dipthongs: /e/ 1. make 2. sure 3. bear 4. island // // // // // /e/ // /h _ _/ /t _ _ n/ /h _ _ m/ /s _ _ t/ /n _ _ /

/m _ _ k/ / _ _/ /b _ _/ /- - lnd/

6. hear 7. town 8. home 9. sight 10. know

5. employ /mpl _ _/

Exercise 4 Write out the correct spelling of these place names. 1. /kntbr/ 2. /grent/ 3. /lest/ 4. /ednbr/ 5. /wrk/ ____________________________________________________________________

Some difficult sounds for Italian speakers of English // This is the most frequent vowel sound in spoken English, which can also represent several letters or syllables. It can be found in unstressed function words such as a, am,

an, but, can, of; in prefixes and suffixes such as in-, suc-, to-, ad-, -ible, ment; in words such as according, lemon, minute, purpose, second etc.

-able, -

Exercise 5 Listen to the teacher and underline the // sound in the following sentences. 1. We went to the theatre yesterday. 2. He can speak Russian and German. 3. Susan is famous for her Christmas cake. 4. The pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are difficult. 5. We could ask them if they have reached a decision. 6. A man and a woman were waiting at the station. 7. Theyre going to the mountains on Saturday. 8. The private sector is all economic activity other than government. 9. Where are the spoons and forks? 10. There were seven or eight hundred people present at the conference. // A difficult sound to reproduce for Italian speakers: world - /wld/, third - /d/. Exercise 6 Tick the words that contain the // sound. 1. Thursday 2. does 3. skirt 4. short // There are several letter combinations that produce this sound: mother -/m/, country - /kntr/, flood - /fld/ Exercise 7 The teacher will read out the following sentences. Underline the alternative that you hear. 1. Which county/country did you say he lived in? 2. She rubbed/robbed the silver to make it shinier. 3. There are a lot of colourful rags/rugs on the floor. 6 5. Tuesday 6. work 7. ear 8. nurse 9. birthday 10. turn 11. bun 12. werent 13. ball 14. hurt 15. early 16. ward

4. Can I borrow your cup/cap? 5. We were wondering/wandering where she was. 6. She has a heart/hut of gold. 7. Put the batter/butter in the fridge. 8. Did you say he run/ran away? 9. There was a big cart/cut in the wood. 10. He tripped over the stump/stamp on the ground. // Italian does not have this sound: fill - /fl/, ship - /p/. Exercise 8 Say whether the pairs of words you hear are the same (S) or different (D). 1. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. _____ 5. _____ // and // These sounds do not exist in Italian, so they may be transformed in /t/, /f/ or /d/. Exercise 9 Write the following words under the correct phonetic sound. there three breathe thin moth whether although nothing throw either // // 6. _____ 7. _____ 8. _____ 9. _____ 10. _____

/w/ This sound tends to be pronounced by Italian speakers as /v/. Exercise 10 The teacher will read out the following sentences. Underline the alternative that you hear. 1. There was only a little vine / wine left. 2. Where is the vest / west? 3. I saw a long whale / veil in the distance. 4. What was under the wheel / veal? 5. Her poetry has become worse / verse. 7

/d/ When written with a J, Italian speakers tend to pronounce this sound as /j/. The letter G can also produce this sound: general, storage, as can the combination

dge and age: edge, storage.

Exercise 11 Tick the words that contain the /d/ sound. 1. gin 2. large 3. goat 4. injury /h/ This sound tends to be omitted by Italian speakers. However, the h is not pronounced in such words as hour, honour, heir and honest, in some words and place names: exhibit, 5. yam 6. soldier 7. guilty 8. gum 9. jet 10. gear 11. just 12. get 13. damage 14. mayor 15. collage 16. college

Totten(h)am, or in rapid speech: Tell (h)im well be late.

Exercise 12 The teacher will read out sentences. Tick the word that you hear. 1. ill 2. eye 3. art 4. air 5. ear /s/ Apart from the letter S, the /s/ sound can be represented by a number of consonant combinations, which differ in pronunciation from the Italian: psyche, cellar, science, hill high heart hair hear 6. old 7. heir 8. all 9. eight 10. edge hold hair hall hate hedge

listen.
Exercise 13 Tick the words that contain the /s/ sound. 1. song 2. Islam 3. vision 4. science 5. face 6. city 7. message 8. houses 9. issue 10. months 11. castle 12. fascism 13. disciple 14. sugar 15. mix 16. psychology

Exercise 14 Underline the word that the transcription represents. 1. bn 2. 3. flz 4. vn 5. med 6. rm 7. wd 8. fget 9. s 10. huz burn thing fillings vine major rum word forget eyes whose born thin feelings wine mayor ram worried forged ice house

Tongue Twisters Quickly say the following sentences. 1. She sells sea shells on the sea shore. 2. Thirty-three thrilling thespians thought throughout Thursday. 3. I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch. 4. In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen. 5. A skunk sat on a stump.

UNIT 2 ENGLISH SPELLING AND SOUNDS English spelling is a particular obstacle to non-native speakers. This is due to the fact that during the course of its history it has been influenced by numerous languages, especially by German, Latin, French and the Scandinavian languages. Thus, for example, the sound // is to be found in the following letter combinations: shut, champagne,

nation, expansion, conscience, issue, and sugar.

Sometimes words do not sound alike despite their similar spellings (homographs): bow /b/ and /b/, close - /klz/ and /kls/, live - /lv/ and /lv/. Other words sound alike, but are spelled differently (homophones): arent / aunt - /nt/, bare / bear /be/, and seen / scene - /sn/.

It was already noted over 400 years ago that English used more letters than necessary to spell many of its words, and during the 17th century numerous redundant letters were removed, the emergent standard spellings tending to prefer one of the shorter forms among the alternatives previously in use. For example, in the 16th century the word bit was sometimes spelt byte. Many words were reduced like byte by the loss of a silent final -E, the replacement of Y by I, and the simplification of doubled consonants. But many other words have kept unnecessary letters, for instance the B in debt , the E in have or the P in receipt. After the 17th century this process of simplification of English spelling slowed down, thanks to the standardizing influence of printing and the spread of dictionaries. The American lexicographer Noah Webster took the process of simplification a step further in the early 19th century, and Americans today use some distinctive spellings of the type his dictionary recommended, such as center, traveling, favor, defense, realize (Br.Eng. centre,

travelling, favour, defence, realise).

Difficult vowel combinations Practice saying the following words u: // - bun, // - put, // - busy, /e/ - bury, /u/ - rude, /ju/ - huge, // -

focus, // - burn.
ea: // - beach, /e/ - bread, /e/ - break, /e/ - bear, // - dear. au: // - aunt, // - author, // - because, /e/ - gauge. oo: /u/ - too, // - look, // - flood, // - brooch, // - floor. ei: /e/ - eight, // - receive, // - counterfeit, /e/ - leisure, // - height ui: /u/ - fruit, // - build, /w/ - suite, // - guide. ou: // - out, // - soul, // - touch, // - could, /u/ - you, // - pour. oa: // - road, // - broad. ow: // - now, // - know, // - knowledge. ough: // - though, /u/ - through, // - bought, // - drought, // - borough, /f/ - cough, /f/ - enough. augh: // - taught, /f/ - laugh. 10

Difficult consonant combinations Practice saying the following words ch: /k/ - character, /t/ - choice, // - chef, // - yacht. cc: /ks/ - success, /k/ - account, /t/ - cappuccino. gn: /n/ - sign, /gn/ - recognise. ng: // - sing, /g/ - finger, /nd/ - danger. Exercise 15 Circle the word that is pronounced differently from the other three words. 1. accident 2. sheep 3. angry 4. shout 5. cheese 6. signature 7. suit 8. though 9. floor 10. author access beer jungle now chip foreign fruit rough poor caught accommodate field English round machine Gnostic cruise enough flood laughter accept people spring mould attach tongue biscuit tough door daughter

Suffixes -s suffix The morpheme -s of the 3rd person singular (he works), of the noun plural (books), of the genitive (Johns) and of the contraction of is or has (hes) is pronounced in three different ways depending on the sound of the preceding consonant: z after sibilant consonants: s slices churches s /slsz/ /ttz/ t d /brz/ /wedz/

brushes wages

after unvoiced consonants: /f/ /k/ /p/ /t/ packs laughs /pks/ /lfs/ rates taps /rets/ /tps/ 11

in other cases boys clothes /bz/ /klz/ girls Johns /glz/ /dnz/

Some unvoiced sounds, and f , become voiced when the -s suffix is added. Compare: bath knife Exercise 16 1. judges 2. lives 3. plates 4. classes 5. breathes -ed suffix The morpheme -ed of the past tense (or past participle) is also pronounced in three different ways depending on the preceding consonant: d after t and d painted wanted /pentd/ /wntd/ founded rounded /fndd/ /rndd/ /b/ /nf/ baths knives /bz/ /nvz/

Write the sound /s/, /z/ or /z/ next to the following words. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 6. watches 7. attends 8. tapes 9. books 10. wives _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

after unvoiced consonants: /f/ /k/ /p/ /s/ t / clapped laughed /klpt/ /lft/ brushed wished /brt/ /wt/

in other cases earned changed /nd/ /tendd/ carried harmed /kr d/ /hmd/

12

Exercise 17 Pronounce the past form of these regular verbs paying attention to the ed suffix. 1. study 2. judge 3. listen 4. miss 5. work -e suffix Sometimes the addition of the e suffix to a noun to form a verb changes the quality both of the vowels sound and of the final th: a bath a breath /b/ /bre/ to bathe to breathe /be/ /br/ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 6. answer 7. test 8. invent 10. enjoy _____ _____ _____ _____

9. research _____

Exercise 18 Listen to the teacher and circle the word you hear. 1. Breath/Breathe in deeply and then out again. 2. Suits were usually made of wool cloth/clothe. 3. I really loath/loathe the fashion of the 1980s. 4. The medicine soothes/sooths the pain of the inflammation. 5. The babys teeth/teethe are coming through. Homographs Some examples of homographs:

to lead to read to live

/ld/ /rd/ /lv/

lead read live

/led/ /red/ /lv/

The sound may also change according to the where the stress is on the word:

to record to present
Exercise 19 1. /hz/ 2. /te/ 3. /klz/ 4. /wnd/

/rkd/ /przent/

record present

/rekd/ /preznt/

Listen to the sentences and circle the transcription that you hear. /hs/ /t/ /kls/ /wnd/ /kn trkt/

5. /kntrkt/

13

Homophones Some examples of homophones:

son / sun allowed / aloud minor / miner

/sn/ /ld/ /mn/

Exercise 20 Listen to the teacher and circle the word that you hear in its context. 1. whose / whos 2. there / their 3. sale / sail 4. rode / road 5. steel / steal Silent letters a) Some consonants are written but not pronounced. This is either because they were once pronounced (knock) or come from a foreign language (psychology). Initial position cz czar kn knock, knee, knight, knife gn gnat, gnaw, gnome pn pneumonia ps psychology, psychiatry, pseudo pt Ptolemy wr write, wrong, wring, wrist wh who, whom, whose, whole End position -mb lamb, climb, thumb -ng king, thing, song, wing -gm paradigm, diaphragm -gn sign, reign, foreign, resign (but signature, resignation) -mn condemn, autumn, column -pt receipt (but reception) Other positions 6. right / write 7. hear / here 8. rain / reign 9. bare / bear 10. by / buy

doubt

muscle

castle

whistle

isle

viscount

sword

Norwich
14

b) Sometimes vowels are written but not pronounced. Some examples:

government garden
Exercise 21 1. answer 2. Greenwich 3. interest 4. restaurant 5. written

family reason

chocolate evil

Mark the silent letters in the following words. 6. castle 7. design 8. know 9. comfortable 10. honest 11. subtle 12. vegetable 13. generous 14. psychosis 15. cupboard 16. island 17. mustnt 18. Wednesday 19. bomb 20. hoped

This poem illustrates the various English spelling complexities. Read it aloud. Beware of heard, a dreadful word That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead, it's said like bed, not beadfor goodness' sake don't call it 'deed'! Watch out for meat and great and threat (they rhyme with suite and straight and debt).

A moth is not a moth in mother, Nor both in bother, broth, or brother, And here is not a match for there, Nor dear and fear for bear and pear, And then there's doze and rose and loseJust look them up- and goose and choose, And cork and work and card and ward And font and front and word and sword, And do and go and thwart and cartCome, I've hardly made a start!

15

UNIT 3

STRESS PATTERNS IN WORDS

In Italian, a syllable-timed language, uniform stress is given to different syllables. English, on the contrary, is a stress-timed language in which there exists a distinction between strong (toniche) and weak (atone) syllables. Syllable division A syllable consists of a vowel sound or a vowel sound + consonant(s). The system for syllable division is generally a phonetic one. Most words have the same number of syllables in the written form as in the pronunciation. However, there are a few rules to help divide words up into syllables. a) Each syllable has only one vowel sound. When a consonant separates two vowels,

divide the word after the first vowel and before the consonant:

stu-dent

re-sult

ex-a-mine

b) When the vowel is at the end of a syllable, it has a long sound, called an open syllable:

may

be-low

an-ec-dote

c) When the vowel is not at the end of a syllable, it has a short sound, called a closed syllable:

mad

sub-ject

con-vent

d) Syllables are divided between doubled consonants, unless the doubled consonant is part of a syllable that is a base word: din-ner e)

swim-ming

tell-er

Monosyllabic prefixes and suffixes are not divided:

il-le-gal gov-ern-ment
f)

un-com-mon cou -ra-geous

Plurisyllabic prefixes and suffixes are divided:

an-ti-war vel-o-ci-ty

un-der-take hy-po-the-ti-cal

Exercise 22 Divide the following words into syllables. 1. mirror 2. sunshine 3. poem 4. wonderful 5. calendar 6. global 7. fitness 8. December 16

9. computer 10. lovely 11. fine 12. tongue Stress patterns in words

13. oversleep 14. dinner 15. antidote

The strong or primary stress on one syllable has the effect of weakening the pronunciation of the secondary syllables. It is therefore important to be able to determine the stress pattern of words. Symbols used to indicate stress: the following syllable has primary stress the following syllable has secondary stress Suffixes Suffixes do not generally have primary stress. Compare:

age
to be able

/ed/ /ebl/ /et/ /fl/ /les/

courage capable beautiful hopeless

/krd / /kepbl/ /bjutfl/ /hpls/

ate full less

graduate (n)/grdt /

In only a few cases the main stress falls on the suffix, generally with suffixes of foreign, especially French, origin. Some examples are: -oo -ee -eer

kangaroo employee engineeer

-elle -ette -ese

gazelle cigarette Chinese

Some suffixes determine the position of the primary stress. The following suffixes determine the primary stress on the syllable preceding the suffix: 17

Nouns -ity, -ety Note the shift in stress:

capacity public social to vary

opportunity publicity society variety attention preparation pronunciation realisation physician humanitarian librarian historian ethics mathematics

-ion Note the shift in stress:

discussion to prepare to pronounce to realise

-ian Note the shift in stress:

amphibian humanity library history

-ics Verbs -ify, -ish Note the shift in stress:

physics

to magnify person

to abolish to personify

Exercise 23 Mark the primary stress in the following words. 1. village 2. society 3. talkative 4. suffragette 5. classify Adjectives -ic, -ible, -igible Note the shift in stress: 6. passion 7. anxiety 8. universal 9. career 10. economics

historic economy to neglect

invisible economic negligible

eligible

-ious, -eous, -uous

glorious arboreous

continuous

18

-ial, -ual

social

usual

Other suffixes do not alter the stress pattern of the word. -able -cy -dom -er/-or -ful -ish (adj.) -ism -ize/-ise (v.) -less -ly (adv.) -man (n.)

comfort vacant king visit wonder

baby

comfortable vacancy kingdom visitor wonderful

babyish

to criticise economy care rapid police to govern owner unit to inquire

criticism to economize careless rapidly policeman government ownership unity inquiry

-ment
-ship -ty -y

Exercise 24 Mark the shift in stress in the following pairs of words. 1. economy 2. experiment 3. history 4. nation 5. philosophy 6. psychiatry 7. science 8. examine 9. idiot 10. demonstrate Prefixes Two-syllable words with no prefix usually have the primary stress on the first syllable: follow economics experimental historian nationality philosophical psychiatric scientific examination idiotic demonstration

carry

govern

cancel

19

Two-syllable words with a separable prefix (often written with a hyphen) have equal stress on the prefix and the main word:

ex-wife

pre-book

re-write

self-help

Two-syllable VERBS with an inseparable prefix generally have the primary stress on the second syllable: to explain

to present

to deny

to produce

Two-syllable NOUNS with an inseparable prefix generally have the primary stress on the first syllable: expert

present defence

deluge excuse relief

proverb

Some exceptions to this are: advice

The stress in three-syllable words can vary from word to word. Compare:

telegraph

removal

vegetable

decision

If the prefix - separable or inseparable - is bisyllabic, there is secondary stress on the first syllable of the prefix and primary stress on the third syllable:

understand

intervene

supersede

override

Exercise 25 Mark the primary stress in the following pairs of nouns and verbs. 1. to conduct 2. to desert 3. to present 4. to subject 5. to conflict 6. to decrease 7. to object 8. to produce 9. to suspect 10. to rebel conduct desert present subject conflict decrease object produce suspect rebel

Exercise 26

Find the word in each group that the primary stress located on the different b) del-i-cate b) app-ro-priate b) oc-cur b) cal-en-dar c) po-et-ic c) com-pli-cated c) lim-it c) at-mos-phere d) sen-si-tive d)nec-es-sar-y d) of-fer d) ad-vise 20

syllable from the other three. 1. a) con-fi-dent 2. a) ad-mi-ra-ble 3. a) or-i-gin 4. a) in-stru-ment

5. a) ca-nal 6. a) mu-si-cian 7. a) man-age 8. a) a-tom-ic 9. a) ac-ci-dent 10. a) mar-riage Compound nouns

b) de-moc-ra-cy b) ne-ces-si-ty b) con-nect b) dif-fer-ent b) ma-chin-e-ry b) mys-ter-y

c) char-ac-ter c) au-thor-i-ty c) o-blige c) se-ri-ous c) res-tau-rant c) ben-e-fit

d) suc-cess d) pho-to-graph d) re-veal d) vi-ol-ent d) tel-e-phone d) ex-ist-ence

Most compound nouns have the primary stress on the first element. Compare this to the equal stress of adjective and noun:

dining-room dark room

Compound adjectives

textbook library book

blackbird black bird

The stress generally falls on the second element with the ed participle and -ing participle: bad-tempered

old-fashioned

good-looking

However, if one of the elements of the compound adjective is a noun, stress will fall on the noun, even if it is the first element: law-abiding Compound verbs The stress generally falls on the second element: outrun Exercise 27 Mark the stress on the following words. 1. blackboard 2. mobile phone 3. well-dressed 4. highlight 5. swimming pool Exercise 28 stress. 1. The letter was written by hand 2. We grew the vegetables at home. 3. We went on holiday at the last minute. 4. Jane works very hard. 5. Tom looks really good. The letter was ................................ The vegetables are ....................... It was a .............................holiday. Jane is ......................................... Tom is ........................................ 21 6. train-spotting 7. football 8. bus stop 9. out-dated 10. over-ripe

record-breaking

overrate

underline

Rewrite the sentences forming compound adjectives and mark the primary

UNIT 4

STRESS PATTERNS IN PHRASES

Function words such as prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, determiners, and auxiliary verbs are generally weaker in stress within a sentence. prepositions conjunctions /t/ f frm v t p h m/, /m h s m sm

at for from of to per

pronouns

that as than and but or

determiners

t z n n , n bt , r z h , // j , n , /

he him her us them some

his her our your a, an the

Exercise 29 Underline the weak function words in the following sentences. 1. Id love a cup of tea. 2. When are you going to Spain? 3. He goes to the cinema three or four times a month. 4. Ill have some bread and butter, please. 5. Wed rather stay at home than go to the restaurant. 6. Youll have to study harder if you want to pass the exam. 7. They drove at 50 kilometres per hour. 8. Did you give him the books? 9. He said that hed go home as soon as possible. 10. I told them they were going to fall. Articles a, an The indefinite article a is reduced to // before consonants (or consonant sounds):

a book

a table

a university

a one-year plan

It becomes an

n before vowels (or vowel sounds):

an apple

an event

an hour

an heir
22

the

The definite article the is reduced to // before consonants (or consonant

sounds): the mother

the table

the university

the one-year plan

It is pronounced // before vowels (or vowel sounds):

the apple

the event

the hour

the heir

Exercise 30 Write a or an in the following sentences. 1. It took me _____ hour to write the letter. 2. Would you like _____ orange? 3. She is _____ Anglo-Italian. 4. It is _____ European law. 5. Jane is _____ university student. 6. I hope to study for _____ M.A. degree next year. 7. It was _____ one-hour lesson. 8. The concert was _____ extraordinary event. 9. Youll have to have _____ X-ray for that leg. 10. It was _____ enjoyable evening. Exercise 31 Say whether the following pronunciation of the definite article is // or // . 1. _____ heir. 2. _____ universe. 3. _____ apple. 4. _____ ugly house. 5. _____ U.S.A. Auxiliary verbs 6. _____ hotel. 7. _____ historian. 8. _____ jewels. 9. _____ hour-glass 10. _____ one-man band.

be and have are generally pronounced as a single syllable: Im hes shes its were youre
m (h)z z ts w j

Ive hes shes its weve youve

v (h)z z ts wv juv 23

theyre theres there are

e ez er

theyve

ev

Be and have have a weak pronunciation in Wh- questions: Where has /hz/ he 'gone? Whats s his name?
They have strong (or semi-weakened) forms: (a) in yes/no questions:

'Is /z/ he on time? (b) in the negative form with the contracted not: I 'havent /hvnt/ been there yet.
(c) in tag questions and short answers:

'Have /hv / you got a car?

She hasnt arrived, 'has /hz/she? Yes, she 'has /hz/. The auxiliary do (does) has a weak pronunciation in Wh- questions: Where does /dz/ he 'live? What do /d/ you 'do?
It has a strong (or semi-weakened) form: (a) in other questions:

'Do /du/ you like cheese? 'Does /dz/ he live here? (b) in the negative form with the contracted not: I 'dont /dnt/ want to come.
(c) in tag questions and short answers:

He doesnt /dznt/ live here, 'does /dz/ he?

Modal auxiliary verbs

Yes, he 'does /dz/.

Modal auxiliary verbs have weak pronunciation in the affirmative and interrogative:

I can /kn/ 'go.

They have a strong form:

They could /kd/ 'come. Should/d/ he 'leave?

(a) in the negative with the contracted not:

I 'cant /knt/ go.

(b) in tag questions and short answers:

They 'wont / wnt / come. Yes he 'can /kn/.

He cant swim, 'can /kn/ he?

Exercise 32 Underline the weak function words in the following sentences. 1. He could have told you if you had asked. 2. Dont you want to know? 3. I should have known he was joking. 4. She can apply for the job, cant she? 5. Who does she think she is? 6. He was at school when the fire broke out. 24

7. Where does he say he was going? 8. That is the place he has renovated. 9. I certainly wont do that job again. 10. You dont have to stay if you dont want to. Exercise 33 Mark the stressed syllables in the following passages. Practise reading them with attention to the weak forms (auxiliaries, articles, pronouns, prepositions etc).

TEXT 1 Of all the changes that swept over Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the most widely influential was an epistemological transformation that we call the scientific revolution. In the popular mind, this revolution is associated with natural science and technological change, but the scientific revolution was, in reality, a series of changes in the structure of European thought itself: systematic doubt, empirical and sensory verification, the abstraction of human knowledge into separate sciences, and the view that the world functions like a machine. These changes greatly altered the human experience of every other aspect of life. looking at the world very differently. TEXT 2 Today English is a world-wide language. About 300 million people speak it as their This modification in world view can also be charted in painting, sculpture and architecture, where it can be seen that people are

mother-tongue, and there are as many - if not more - for whom it is an additional language. The unparalleled status of English as an international language reflects the economic and technological power of the English-speaking countries, predominantly the United States. A radical shift in power would undoubtedly result in the eventual displacement of English as the paramount international language. Even so, it will remain the national language of many countries where the majority of the population now speak it as their first or second language.

25

UNIT 5 ENGLISH WORDS USED IN ITALIAN In the last century the Italian language has adopted and adapted a wide range of English words, especially when they refer to new products and trends. For example, browser,

welfare, and pullover, to name but a few. Other influences concern direct translations
from English into Italian: la maggioranza silenziosa (the silent majority) and le pubbliche

relazioni (public relations). Another way to handle foreign words is to adapt the spelling
to Italian, so we have ferribot (ferryboat) and nailon (nylon), or else Italian suffixes are added to an English word, such as stoppare and bluffare. There is also a tendency to coin English words that do not in fact exist in English (called false anglicisms), such as

footing (jogging) and fiction (TV series).

Exercise 34 The following words are commonly used in Italian. Make sure you know their correct pronunciation. 1. management 2. performance 3. audience 4. replay 5. know-how 6. check-in 7. server 8. partner 9. desktop 10. cover 11. report 12. hamburger 13. privacy 14. suspense 15. Japan 16. mountain bike 17. wafer 18. flashback 19. club 20. bunker

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Exercise 35 Write the original English terms of these translations in Italian. 1. cartone animato 2. diversamente abile 3. informatica 4. parola-chiave 5. parola dordine

Exercise 36 Match the false anglicism on the left with its correct term on the right.

1. autogrill 2. camping 3. luna park 4. stage 5. golf 6. baby killer 7. water 8. scotch 9. lifting 10. flipper 11. zapping 12. autostop

a. funfair b. juvenile murderer c. toilet d. motorway snack bar e. pinball machine f. channel surfing g. adhesive tape h. hitch-hiking i. internship j. jumper k. campsite l. facelift

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ANSWER KEY UNIT 1 Exercise 1 1. /t/ g. shut 2. /ht/ - c. heart 5. /let/ - a. later 8. /dt/ - e. doubt 3. /k/ - h. think 6. /bt/- j. bought 9. /dk/ - b. joke 4. /wk/ - f. work 7. /pul/ - i. pool 10. /e/ - d. there Exercise 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. cut head cook live world pine shoe hair think gel // /e/ // // // // /u/ /e/ // //

Exercise 3 1. make 2. sure 3. bear 4. island 6. hear 7. town 8. home 9. sight 10. know Exercise 4 1. /kntbr/ 2. /grent/ Canterbury Greenwich 28 /mek/ // /be/ / lnd/ /h/ /tn/ /hm/ /st/ /n/

5. employ /mpl/

3. /lest/ 4. /ednbr/ 5. /wrk/ Exercise 5

Leicester Edinburgh Warwick

1. We went to the theatre yesterday. 2. He can speak Russian and German. 3. Susan is famous for her Christmas cake. 4. The pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are difficult. 5. We could ask them if they have reached a decision. 6. A man and a woman were waiting at the station. 7. Theyre going to the mountains on Saturday. 8. The private sector is all economic activity other than government. 9. Where are the spoons and forks? 10. There were seven or eight hundred people present at the conference. Exercise 6 1. Thursday 3. skirt 6. work 10. turn Exercise 7 1. Which county did you say he lived in? 2. She rubbed the silver to make it shinier. 3. There are a lot of colourful rugs on the floor. 4. Can I borrow your cap? 5. We were wondering where she was. 6. She has a heart of gold. 7. Put the batter in the fridge. 8. Did you say he ran away? 9. There was a big cut in the wood. 10. He tripped over the stump on the ground. Exercise 8 1. sit / seat - D 2. ship / ship - S 3. bin / bean - D 4. fill / fill - S 5. is / ease - D 6. tin / tin - S 7. live / leave - D 8. lick / leak - D 9. chip / chip - S 10. bid / bid S 29 8. nurse 9. birthday 12. werent 14. hurt 15. early

Exercise 9 // three thin moth nothing throw Exercise 10 1. There was only a little wine left. 2. Where is the vest? 3. I saw a long whale in the distance. 4. What was under the veal? 5. Her poetry has become worse. Exercise 11 1. gin 2. large Exercise 12 1. They went over the hill. 2. The symbol represents the eye of God. 3. At the heart of the issue is the disparity of wealth. 4. Make sure the air circulates. 5. You need something to help you hear. 6. She showed me how to hold a violin. 7. He was the heir to a fortune. 8. Leave some books for me dont take them all! 9. They wrote hate on the wall. 10. Try not to go near the hedge, Paul. Exercise 13 1. song 4. science 5. face 6. city 7. message 10. months 11. castle 13. disciple 15. mix 16. psychology 4. injury 6. soldier 9. jet 11. just 13. damage 16. college there breathe whether although either //

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Exercise 14 1. bn 2. 3. flz 4. vn 5. med UNIT 2 Exercise 15 1. accommodate 7. biscuit Exercise 16 1. judges /z/ 2. lives /z/ 5. breathes /z/ 9. books /s/10. wives /z/ Exercise 17 1. study d 6. answer d Exercise 18 1. Breathe // 2. cloth // 3. loathe // 4. soothes // 5. teeth //. Exercise 19 1. /hz/ 2. /te/ 3. /kls/ 4. /wnd/ 5. /kn trkt/ Exercise 20 1. Whose book is this? 2. They said their house was in the country. 3. Id love to sail to Greece. 4. He rode the horse and won the race. 5. The structure is made of steel. 6. Is Where did they house the painting? Your dress has got a big tear. They live very close to us. I forgot to wind up my alarm clock last night. We were afraid she might contract some disease in Africa. 2. judge d 7. test d 3. listen d 8. invent d 4. miss /t/ 5. work /t/ 3. plates /s/ 7. attends 4. classes /z/ /z/ 2. beer 3. spring 4. mould 5. machine 6. signature 8. though 9. flood 10. laughter. born thing feelings vine major 6. rm 7. wd 8. fget 9. s 10. huz ram word forget ice whose

6. watches /z/

8. tapes /s/

9. research /t/ 10. enjoy d

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that the right answer? 7. Here is where the battle took place. 8. The monarchs reign was peaceful. 9. He couldnt bear to be seen. 10. This novel is by a famous author. Exercise 21 1. answer 2. Greenwich 3. interest 4. restaurant 5. written 6. castle 7 design 8. know 9. comfortable 10. honest 11. subtle 12. vegetable 13. generous 14. psychosis 15. cupboard 16. island 17. mustnt 18. Wednesday 19. bomb 20. hoped

UNIT 3 Exercise 22 1. mir-ror 2. sun-shine 3. po-em 4. won-der-ful 5. ca-len-dar 6. glo-bal 7. fit-ness 8. De-cem-ber 9. com-pu-ter 10. lov-ely 11. fine 12. tongue 13. over-sleep 14. din-ner 15. an-ti-dote

Exercise 23 1. village 2. society 3. talkative 4. suffragette 5. classify 6. passion 7. anxiety Exercise 24 1. economy / economics 2. experiment / experimental 3. history / historian 4. nation / nationality 6. psychiatry / psychiatric 5. philosophy / philosophical 8. universal 9. career 10. economics

7. science / scientific 8. examine / examination 9. idiot / idiotic 10. demonstrate / demonstration

Exercise 25 1. to conduct / conduct 2. to desert / desert 3. to present / present 4. to subject / subject 5. to conflict / conflict 6. to decrease / decrease 7. to object / object 8. to produce / produce 9. to suspect / suspect 10. to rebel / rebel. Exercise 26 1. c) po-et-ic 2. d) nec-es-sar-y 3. b) oc-cur 4. d) ad-vise 32

5. c) char-ac-ter

6. d) pho-to-graph 7. a) man-age 8. a) a-tom-ic

9. b) ma-chin-e-ry 10. d) ex-ist-ence. Exercise 27 1. blackboard over-ripe. Exercise 28 1. The letter was hand-written. 2. The vegetables are home-grown 3. It was a last-minute holiday. 4. Jane is hard-working. 5. Tom is good-looking. UNIT 4 Exercise 29 1. Id love a cup of tea. 2. When are you going to Spain? 3. He goes to the cinema three or four times a month. 4. Ill have some bread and butter, please. 5. Wed rather stay at home than go to the restaurant. 6. Youll have to study harder if you want to pass the exam. 7. They drove at 50 kilometres per hour. 8. Did you give him the books? 9. He said that hed go home as soon as possible. 10. I told them they were going to fall. Exercise 30 1. an 2. an 3. an 4. a 5. a Exercise 31 1. // heir 2. // universe 3. // apple 4. // ugly house 5. // U.S.A 6. // hotel 7. // historian 9. // hour-glass 10. // one-man band. 8. // jewels. 6. an 7. a 8. an 9. an 10. an. 2. mobile phone 3. well-dressed 7. football 4. highlight 5. swimming pool 6. train-spotting 8. bus stop 9. outdated 10.

33

Exercise 32 1. He could have told you if you had asked. 2. Dont you want to know? 3. I should have known he was joking. 4. She can apply for the job, cant she? 5. Who does she think she is? 6. He was at school when the fire broke out. 7. Where does he say he was going? 8. That is the place he has renovated. 9. I certainly wont do that job again. 10. You dont have to stay if you dont want to. Exercise 33 TEXT 1 Of all the changes that swept over Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the most widely influential was an epistemological transformation that we call the scientific revolution. In the popular mind, this revolution is associated with natural science and technological change, but the scientific revolution was, in reality, a series of changes in the structure of European thought itself: systematic doubt, empirical and sensory verification, the abstraction of human knowledge into separate sciences, and the view that the world functions like a machine. These changes greatly altered the human experience of every other aspect of life. This modification in world view can also be charted in painting, sculpture and architecture, where it can be seen that people are looking at the world very differently. TEXT 2 Today English is a world-wide language. About 300 million people speak it as their

mother-tongue, and there are as many - if not more - for whom it is an additional language. The unparalleled status of English as an international language reflects the economic and technological power of the English-speaking countries, predominantly the United States. A radical shift in power would undoubtedly result in the eventual displacement of English as the paramount international language. Even so, it will remain the national language of many countries where the majority of the population now speak it as their first or second language.

34

UNIT 5 Exercise 34 1. management /mndmnt/ 2. performance /pfmns/ 3. audience /dns/ 4. replay /rple/ 5. know-how /nh/ 6. check-in /tekn/ 7. server /sv/ 8. partner /ptn/ 9. desktop /desktp/ 10. cover /kv/ Exercise 35 1. cartone animato cartoon 2. diversamente abile differently abled 3. informatica information technology 4. parola-chiave key word 5. parola dordine - password 11. report /rpt/ 12. hamburger /hmbg/ 13. privacy /prvs/ 14. suspense /sspens/ 15. Japan /dpn/ 16. mountain bike /mntn bk/ 17. wafer /wef/ 18. flashback /flbk/ 19. club /klb/ 20. bunker /bk/

Exercise 36 1. autogrill - d. motorway snack bar 2. camping - k. campsite 3. luna park - a. funfair 4. stage - i. internship 5. golf - j. jumper 6. baby killer - b. juvenile murderer 7. water - c. toilet 8. scotch - g. adhesive tape 9. lifting - l. facelift 10. flipper - e. pinball machine 11. zapping f. channel surfing 12. autostop h. hitch-hiking

35

36